Make your bathroom child-friendly

It’s important that a bathroom caters to the needs of the grownups and kids in your home. Here’s how you can create a child-friendly bathroom.

Bathrooms play an integral role in every family’s life. For many, it’s where the day begins and ends so it’s important that it caters to everyone’s needs, not just the grown up members of the family or else it can become a source of arguments and frustration.

Whether you are in a position to be able to designate a bathroom purely for the use of your children or have to share a bathroom with little ones, there are a few basic elements which should be incorporated to make a bathroom child-friendly.

Be colour friendly:

If you have to share a bathroom with children and want to incorporate some fun colours, combine neutral wall tiles with horizontal or vertical bands of brightly coloured mosaics. Coloured mosaics can introduce energy and a hint of playfulness to the bathroom without it being overwhelmingly child-orientated. Mosaic bands also add texture and interest to a bathroom and can be easily paired with matching coloured, soft accessories such as towels, blinds and bathmats.

If you have a dedicated children’s bathroom, you can introduce as many colours as you want. Bold colour themes punctuated by interesting details such as images of your child’s favourite cartoon character or super hero work well. If you’re concerned about such bathrooms being too ‘loud’ or your child outgrowing it, incorporate bright colours and details in the form of items which can be easily swapped out including laundry baskets, child (and wall) friendly stickers/ decals, shower curtains, toiletries, bathmats, towels and bathroom ware.

Child-friendly storage:

Although some children may be averse to taking a bath, many like nothing more than to spend time blowing bubbles, ‘wrinkling up’ and playing with their toys in the water. As is the case with most children, there tends to be a lot of toys wherever they go which can become problematic in bathrooms, particularly if you have to use the toilet in the middle of the night and happen to step on ‘Mr. Hedgehog’ or a Transformer unawares.

Rather than discouraging your child from bringing their toys into the bathroom, make a plan to accommodate them. With this in mind, encourage your child to store their toys post use in specially marked, easy to reach toy baskets, cupboards, shelves or bins. This will also help reinforce the importance of cleaning up after themselves.

Durable surfaces:

Liza Watermeyer, Retail & Display Coordinator at Tile Africa says when it comes to bathrooms, it is imperative to use good quality, hard-wearing tiles which are easy to clean. She explains that wall to floor tiles tend to work best as they protect floor and wall surfaces from splashes, steam, over-zealous children and the odd crayon. Quality tiles can also add a lot of character and value to a bathroom she says.

Make it safe:

There are myriad safety measures which can be incorporated into a bathroom to make it child-friendly. These include, amongst others, anti-slip stickers which can be placed on the floors of baths and showers, non-slip stepping stools which will allow your child to safely access the sink, plastic bath ware such as cups and toothbrush holders, grab bars, child-size toilets and toilet locks. How far you want to take safety in your bathroom is entirely up to you. So long as the bathroom is reasonably safe and you’ve taken steps to make it an inviting environment for the little ones in your life is all that really matters at the end of the day.